Presently, with the continuous improvements of the Ethernet technology in every aspect, Ethernet technology has been extended continuously from Local Area Networks (LANs) to Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) and backbone telecommunication networks. In the next-generation Ethernet services which are demanded increasingly, Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) has become the preferred network technology thanks to its unique advantages. A framework definition of Ethernet-MPLS service interworking model is provided in International Telecommunication Union -Telecommunication standardization sector (ITU-T) Y.1415.
ITU-T Y.1415 Ethernet-MPLS Networking—User Plane Interworking has proposed an Ethernet-MPLS service interworking model as shown in FIG. 1. In the service interworking model, the encapsulation of Ethernet services running in MPLS is provided in detail, In addition, the Pseudo Wire Emulation Edge to Edge (PWE3) workgroup of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has specialized an Ethernet-MPLS interworking application draft (draft-ietf-pwe3-Ethernet-encap-09.txt).
However, at present, there is no complete solution for OAM function interworking between Ethernet and MPLS. Therefore, it is an urgent task to realize an end-to-end OAM between MPLS and Ethernet.